Liverpool Loss Sets Up Potential PSG Meeting in Round of 16

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While the Reds still finished top of the Champions League table, opponents PSV winning means Paris Saint-Germain are a potential opponent in the knockouts.

Liverpool headed into the final round of the new look league phase of the Champions League knowing that the result didn't matter, at least not for where they would finish, with Arne Slot's Reds locked into the top two and the top two set to face a side between 15th-18th in the table.

With the matches all played and the Reds still in first despite their defeat to PSV, they now know that they will play one of either 15th place Paris Saint-Germain, 16th place Benfica, Monaco in 17th, or Brest in 18th. Those sides pair off in the playoff round, 15th and 16th drawn randomly against 17th and 18th.

In the end, sending a fully changed side and leaving most of Slot's regular starters on Merseyside made a lot of sense, and with chasers Barcelona drawing with Atalanta and staying in second spot the loss didn't impact Liverpool's table position. However, in a roundabout way it did matter.

Given how many possible permutations were at play it would have been nearly impossible to predict, but PSV winning meant they finished in 14th place—a single point ahead of PSG. A result for Liverpool would instead have meant PSG finished 14th while PSV dropped and Feyenoord moved up.

Liverpool's opponents, then, would have come from a pool of Benfica, Monaco, Brest, and Feyenoord rather than PSG, Benfica, Monaco, and Brest. On paper at least, Liverpool's loss at least potentially makes their path harder—potentially as PSG could end up on Barcelona's side of the bracket.

The draw for the knockout rounds is set to take place on Friday, January 31st. If they were to make it past the Round of 16, Aston Villa, Atalanta, Brugge, Dortmund, Lille, and Sporting would be potential quarterfinal opponents. They already know could only face second-place Barcelona in the final.